Daughter arrested in Gypsum homicide case

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EAGLE COUNTY — An Aurora woman has been booked on a charge of murder in the shooting death of her mother, whose body was found on a remote road south of Gypsum on Friday.

On Saturday, Traci Cunningham, 28, was taken into custody and booked into the Eagle County Detention Facility on the charge of first-degree murder. Cunningham is being held without bond. Formal charges will be filed by the District Attorney’s Office.

Traci Cunningham’s mother, Penelope Sue Cunningham, 60, also of Aurora, was found on the side of the road, shot five times, Friday morning about 15 miles up Gypsum Creek Road near LEDE Reservoir, police said. Motorists notified authorities that they had found a body.

Cunningham died of gunshot wounds, not exposure, said Kara Bettis, Eagle County coroner.

Traci Cunningham was picked up by police shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday at an Einstein Brothers Bagels in Lakewood after Eagle County police put out a statewide bulletin seeking her vehicle, said Jessie Mosher of the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office. Police put out the bulletin after unsuccessfully attempting to contact someone at the victim’s home, Mosher said. The mother and daughter lived together, Mosher said.

Mosher said police are trying to determine the two women’s connection to the Gypsum area.

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office has been assisted by the Lakewood Police Department and the Aurora Police Department in the case.